Skinny 5'6 Ladies (read:) )?

I am 5'6 118 lbs. I used to be about 135 and never looked fat, but felt pretty fat. Now I feel way more healthy, flexible, comfortable with my body. I wear a size 2 usually. THis is me : http://www.mybodygallery.com/myaccount.html?task=Albums&go=add&pid=8

<--5'6.5'' and 118 pounds in this picture.

I am actually 5'6'' and if you want to go down to 117, you would pretty much look veeerrryyy skinny. My older cousin weighs 116 pounds and is 5'3''. I know that may seem kinda on the high side but she looks like she weighs like 95 lbs. My plan is to get down to 140 for now and then work my way down to 128-135 lbs. I have to to see if I like the 140 lbs me better than if I was 128 lbs.

Respectfully, I think that a lot does have to do with your body type. I'm right about there and while I look thin, it's not scary thin. Some people would look emaciated at 117, and some still look alright. I actually looked a little squishy at 135, and some people look amazing at 135.

I'm 5'7.5" and 105lbs, however I suffer from a long-term eating disorder so it is not recommended.. -.-

It really does depend on your body frame, and what actually feels healthy for you. ^.^ As you've mentioned having a smaller frame, the lower weight could possibly look more waif-like on you (think Kate Moss), which suits some ladies but not all!! If you're beginning to feel tired and lethargic after losing weight, your body won't be finding it functional and it's best not to go too far.

Me. I've been down to that weight when I was in my late 20's and felt that I looked healthy and fit. I have a small frame, wrist measurement at about 5.5 inches, which is tiny. On my frame, even though I am almost 5'7", 150 lbs places me in the obese category by body fat percentage (31%).

For now, my goal is about 120 lbs, but really I'd like to get down to 18-20% body fat; whatever that means for actual body weight when I get there, is hard to tell. I am currently at 23% body fat with 101 lbs of lean body mass (approximately).

When you are already smallish, it is really hard to take the weight off. Most people don't understand why someone who looks normal sized would want to lose weight or would view herself as overweight. But small frames are not designed to handle any additional weight, and especially women can have problems with osteoporosis at a young age if too much weight is maintained on a frame not designed to carry it. My mother already has a dowagers hump and has lost 4" from her height, and she is only 62!

My best advice to you is to get your body fat percentage tested. This will tell you how much you need to lose so that you are back into the healthy category. You may not "look" fat to others, but they probably have the frames to carry more weight. Don't let large framed people discourage you from your health goals.

if you can achieve that without having some eating disorder, why not? just try your best, but don't be too obsessed with it.

my sister gained around 18 lbs at some point of her life after staying abroad for a month, but several months later she was back to her 'normal' weight again (around 105lbs at 5"4), no one told her she looked unhealthy. she ate normally. but mind you, she's naturally thin.

According to MFP, based on BMI the healthy weight range for a 5'7 woman is 118.1 - 159.6.
For a 5'6 woman it is 114.6 - 154.9 .

That is a range of 41 pounds! That is such a huge range as to be basically useless for determining what is healthy for an individual. If you are above what is considered "healthy" by that chart, a good first goal is to get within the "healthy" range. For me, even within the healthy range I was obese according to the amount of body fat I had compared to my lean body mass.

I'm 5'6" and most of my life weighed 118 - 125 up until I turned 40. I highly recommend it at your age. Under that people throw french fries at you.

If anyone had read "Eat to Live", Dr. Fuhrman says that weight for women should be 95 pounds for the first 5 feet, then 4 pounds per inch over for optimal health. So, for a 5'6" woman ( this is my height), average weight should be 119 pounds. Range would be 10% either way, so that makes the range 107 - 131 pounds. I know tha I am 112 right now and I still leave a bit of a tummy pouch. Maybe we, as a culture, are used to people being called "normal" as our collective weight increases with each generation?